India will bounce back in West Indies: Ganguly

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly says Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co. will erase their bitter memories by bouncing back in the ODI series in the Windies.

Written by Press Trust of India

Read Time: 2 mins

Kolkata:

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly does not read much into India's failure in the second ICC World Twenty20 and says Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co. will erase their bitter memories by bouncing back in the four-match ODI series in the West Indies beginning on Friday.

Fresh from his commentary assignment in the World T20 in England, Ganguly differed with the views of coach Gary Kirsten who had blamed "fatigue" for the team's pathetic show.

"You must remember that Indians have been doing well for last one and half months. You should not look much into their failure in T20 World Cup," the left-hander told reporters.

He further said India would have to deal with the "setback" of losing Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan for the series.

While Tendulkar and Zaheer have been rested, Sehwag is nursing a shoulder injury.

"I am hopeful they will recover quickly from the setback. Indians are a very experienced side in terms of One-day Internationals. It will be a tough series in the Caribbean but I am confident they will recover and bounce back to form," the Bengal ace said.

Asked whether Indians should worry about containing destructive opener Chris Gayle, Ganguly said, "Not only Gayle, (Ramnaresh) Sarwan, (Dwayne) Bravo... everyone is capable of playing good so it will be a tight contest."

About the recent controversy regarding "hiding injury" as Dhoni has warned teammates post-Sehwag episode, Ganguly chose to differ and said he had never heard of a player not disclosing his injury.

"I don't think if there is anything like that. At this level, every player is honest while representing his country. I have never heard of anybody hiding injury during my tenure as captain," the most successful Indian captain said.

Disagreeing on Kirsten's view that fatigue was a factor, Ganguly said, "I don't think fatigue is a concern for cricketers these days who are professional to meet the demands of international cricket. Also, the ICC prepares the Future Tours Programme taking care of the busy schedule."

Team India's failure in the recently-concluded T20 World Cup was their inability to face short-pitched deliveries, but Ganguly said, "It's not new, short-pitched deliveries were always a concern. But we are coming up with various ways to cope up with them."

Asked about the ouster of controversial John Buchanan as Kolkata Knight Riders coach, Ganguly said, "It was a team decision and I know as much as you do. I can't comment further."

On Buchanan's replacement, Ganguly said, "There are many names doing rounds, but I have no knowledge."

Ganguly was talking to reporters at his Videocon School of Cricket in Salt Lake at a function to felicitate sub-junior cricketers who won the Amber Roy tournament conducted by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).